63 | Iɽ die for you
I'm back in the bedroom, the door clicking shut behind me, sealing me in with the ghosts of my thoughts.
The youngest sister's tear-streaked face lingers in my mind, her words looping in my head.
I sink onto the bed, my hands twisting in my lap, trying to make sense of everything.
My gaze suddenly drifts to the mirror across the room, and I freeze.
My favorite white hoodie, the one I've loved since forever, is stained, dark red smears of blood streaking the sleeves.
Luciano's blood, from the basement, from holding him together when he was ready to shatter.
"Shit, shit," I mutter, standing to get a better look.
"It's my favorite..." My voice trails off, a pang of loss hitting harder than it should for a piece of cloth.
I need to wash it, need to save it before the stain sets.
I yank it off, the fabric catching on my hair, and toss it onto the bed, grabbing a black hoodie from the dresser to replace it.
It's too big, swallowing my frame, but it'll do.
I scoop up the stained one, clutching it like a lifeline, and head out, my feet silent on the hardwood.
I hit the stairs, descending quickly, and the living room comes into view as I near the bottom of the stairs. I spot a few of Luciano's family members scattered across it, his mother perched on the sofa, her eyes distant; an uncle I barely know muttering into a phone.
Their gazes flicker to me, sharp and assessing, but I ignore them.
I'm almost to the hallway when a hand grabs mine, stopping me cold.
I spin around, my breath catching, and it's Luciano.
Isn't he supposed to be in the shower?
He's standing there, barefoot, wearing only low-slung sweatpants, his dark hair wet and dripping onto his shoulders.
The wound on his shoulder is red, jagged, and it looks worse in the light, a reminder he needs a doctor, not another fight.
"Where are you going?" he asks, his voice low but edged with panic, his grip tightening on my hand."Are you leaving?"
I blink, confusion crashing over me.
Leaving?
I'm holding a bloody hoodie, heading to the laundry room to save it, not running away.
"Luciano, I—" I start, but before I can explain, he drops to his knees, right there at the base of the stairs with people watching us in shock, his arms wrapping around my waist like I'm the only thing keeping him upright.
His face presses into my stomach, his breath hot through the fabric of my hoodie, and my heart stops.
"Please don't leave me," he says, his voice breaking, raw and desperate, like he's tearing himself open.
"Please, Aurelia, don't do this. Don't go. If you leave me now, you're not just walking away, you're tearing out my heart and setting fire to what's left. I don't exist without you. I'm begging. On my knees. Stay. I'll burn for you. Bleed for you. Just... don't leave me here alone."
His words hit like a tidal wave, each one cracking something inside me.
I feel his hands tremble against my hips, his shoulders shaking.
"Even if you leave me now, I'll never be free from you.
You marked me, branded your name into my soul, and I'll carry it like a scar until the day I fucking die.
But I'd rather die with you than live without you.
Stay, Aurelia. Stay and damn me forever. "
My throat tightens, tears prickling my eyes, because I didn't know he was this far gone, this terrified of losing me.
"I've bled for you, killed for you, buried men for so much as looking at you. But I'll do worse if you leave me. I'll tear down everything I built, burn this empire to ash, because if you're not in it, I don't want it. I want you. Only you."
I want to tell him I'm not leaving, that I'm just going to wash a damn hoodie, but my voice catches, stuck behind the ache in my chest.
"Luciano," I whisper, my free hand hovering before settling in his wet hair, fingers threading through the damp strands.
He leans into my touch, a shudder running through him, and I feel the weight of his fear, his need, like it's my own.
"I'm not leaving—"
"I'd die for you," he cuts in, his voice hoarse, muffled against me.
"I'd destroy everything for you. Tear this world apart with my bare hands if that's what it took to keep you.
But it's never enough, is it? I can see it in your eyes, you don't need me, don't want me.
And it's eating me alive. Every moment you're not mine, I'm falling to pieces.
Please, Aurelia, don't walk away from me.
I'll beg, I'll crawl through hell if I have to, just stay.
Stay and let me love you, even if it's the only thing left that'll ruin me. "
My heart twists, a sharp pain that steals my breath.
"If killing me is how you claim me, Aurelia Costa, then do it. Just make me yours."